


Found

by Mad_Birdy



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Torture, typical Crowley stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 10:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14495145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Birdy/pseuds/Mad_Birdy
Summary: An old friend calls Sam asking for him. There's no way he can refuse this call.





	Found

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy, this is ten pages of Sam angst I forgot I wrote

Brenna stared down at the phone in her hand, crouching in the shadowed corner of a dark alley, trying to control her breathing as her finger hovered over the green call button. The screen, dimmed in an effort to aid her concealment, showed a phone number and one word: “Moose”. She hesitated a moment longer, raising her head to check her surroundings one more time, before pressing the button and making the call. She held the phone to her ear tightly and pressed her back into the solidness of the brick walls of the alley, eyes constantly darting this way and that, searching for anything suspicious. Subconsciously, she held her breath as the phone rang, praying against all hope that the man called Moose was exactly who she thought he was.

Six states over, in the comfort of his bed in the Men of Letters’ hidden bunker, Sam Winchester was roused from a dreamless sleep by the buzzing of his phone. He groaned a bit as he rolled over, checking the time on his alarm clock. It wasn’t even three in the morning yet. He forced the annoyance out of his voice as he answered the phone without looking at the screen. “Hello?”

The breath left Brenna’s lips in a sudden rush when she heard his voice. Sure, it was deeper, and gruffer, and infinitely more tired, but it was still his voice. “Sam?” she said quietly, relief flooding her body and causing tears to slip down her face.

“Brenna?” the younger Winchester asked, sitting up quickly, sleep wiped from his mind at the sound of a voice he hadn’t heard in years. “Is that really you?” He almost couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah, it’s me.” She wiped her face with her sleeve, drying the tears. “God, it’s good to hear your voice again.”

“Yeah, you too.” Then he asked the question she knew was coming: “Where have you been?”

She huffed once, a humorless laugh. “It’s a long story, and I don’t have time. Just making this call was a dangerous move.”

“Tell me what I need to know.”

“I’m being held by demons.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere in New York City. I don’t know exactly where.” The sounds of footsteps and voices began to echo from around the corner at the end of the alley. Brenna said quickly, “I have to go. They’re coming for me.”

“I’ll find you. Don’t worry.”

“Be careful, Sam. The demon who’s running this, he’s very clever. One of the smartest I’ve ever met, and ruthless to boot. After this he’ll be expecting something.” Without waiting to hear his answer, she hung up and quickly deleted the call from the log on the phone, then dialed 911 and dropped the phone on the pavement. Standing, Brenna ran off in the opposite direction of the voices. She knew her running feet would lead them to her, now that they were so close, but maybe she could confuse them with the abandoned emergency call. Her feet pounded against the asphalt as she rounded the corner at the far end of the alley and headed down another. Just as she was about to reach the road and the streetlights, an invisible force stopped her in her tracks. Her breath hitched as she recognized the outline of the demon who stepped in front of the lights.

Sam’s mind raced as the line clicked dead. He looked at the screen of his phone absently, mind whirling from the fact that Brenna was still alive and out there somewhere. That’s when the number on the screen registered in his brain: 666. No. It couldn’t be  _ that _ demon. How had she run into him all those years ago, before even the Winchesters had met him? Didn’t matter. What mattered was getting to New York and finding her before the demon did anything to hurt her.

Crowley took a few more steps forward, tutting at Brenna. “How could you run from me, darling?” he asked, his voice as smooth and sharp as the scotch he preferred.

“Instinct,” she snarled.

“Why the sudden decision to listen to your instincts? You haven’t paid any attention to them since you signed on with me seven years ago.” Before she could answer, the two demons chasing her ran up and handed Crowley his phone. “Ah, thank you. Did she call anyone?”

“We found it after she dropped it,” one of them answered. “She had dialed 911, but we told the operator it was a mistake and hung up.”

“Hmm.” The King of Hell looked through the call log but saw nothing besides the emergency call. He knew better than to believe that she’d had the phone that long and had only made a call to the police. She was more clever than that. But he couldn’t guess who she would call to help her with her particular problem, so he pushed the phone back into his pocket. “Well, well, then, only calling the police? That’s quite silly. Why don’t we go back home and figure out who you really called.” And with a snap of his fingers, all four people disappeared from the alley.

Sam woke Dean and told him everything, and almost immediately they left the bunker and headed for New York. On the ride over, Sam thought of the first time he’d met Brenna: the Winchesters had rescued her from a pair of ghosts that had been haunting her dorm on a university campus. She’d been smart and had kept her head on her shoulders despite everything that had happened, and Sam had admired that about her. So when she’d disappeared, he convinced Dean to help him look for her. They must have searched for months, but they never found any sign of her. Now they knew where she was and he was determined to get her away from the King of Hell.

\-----

A scream tore its way from Brenna’s throat as a knife was dragged across the skin of her stomach, cutting deep enough to bleed but not deep enough to kill. “Let’s try this again, shall we?” the heavily accented voice of Crowley said. “Who did you call?”

“Bite me,” she spat out from between gritted teeth.

He leaned away from her, setting the knife down on a metal tray, lips pursed and brow furrowed. “We’ll just have to do this a different way, then, won’t we?” He snapped his fingers and a demon brought a chair to him. He sat down in it, then red smoke flowed out of his mouth and forced its way into hers. She could feel him moving around inside her mind, looking at her memories of the phone call and the alley.  _ Moose? _ he said in the space of her mind.  _ How do you know the Winchesters? _ He followed her memories back seven years, searching until he found the first day he’d met her. The memory he found showed him a younger pair of Winchesters than he’d ever known and a case at a university.  _ They rescued you from ghosts only to let you fall into the hands of a demon. How just like them. _

Returning to his preferred meatsuit, Crowley laughed humorlessly. “Well, well, well,” he said. “Looks like we’ll be having company.” He stood and turned to the demon who’d brought him the chair. “Go prepare for the arrival of the Winchester brothers.” It nodded and left quickly. He turned back to Brenna. “Now. What are we going to do to you to punish you for running away and calling those two thorns in my side?”

“Torture me, kill me, I don’t care,” she answered. “Just get it over with.”

“Oh, no, your punishment will be slow.” A wicked grin stretched his lips. “I know exactly what your punishment will be.” He went to the door of the room that housed his torture equipment and snapped his fingers. Within moments, another demon appeared, and he motioned the woman inside, saying, “Diane, correct?” When she nodded, he instructed, “Leave that meatsuit on the ground there and enter our guest here. I need you to be bait for the Winchesters.”

Diane nodded and took a seat against the wall as Brenna struggled against the bonds holding her to the table. “No, no, no,” Brenna said. “Don’t make me hurt them. Don’t do this!”

“Shouldn’t have run away from me, darling,” Crowley said, looking smug, as black smoke flowed from one woman to the other. Brenna shook, head thrown back as the demon took possession of her. Then her head fell forward and she sagged in her bonds. The King of Hell observed the prone form, waiting. Suddenly, her head rose and she looked at him with black eyes. Inside her mind, Diane laughed maniacally at the cowering consciousness of Brenna. “Good,” Crowley said. “Let’s get you ready for the Winchesters.”

“Whatever you say, my King,” Brenna heard herself say. She screamed into the soundless void of her mind as she listened to Crowley tell Diane his plan to trap the Winchesters.

\-----

When the hunters arrived in New York City, they found a cheap motel and set up base there, then dove into research. Sam used his laptop to check CCTV cameras for any sign of her while Dean searched around for any strange deaths or other signs of demon activity. “I found her,” Sam said after half an hour.

“Already?” Dean asked, scooting his chair closer to look over his brother’s shoulder.

“Yeah. She’s not exactly hiding. She keeps showing up in shopping areas and gas stations.”

“Places where there are sure to be cameras.” A frown crossed the older Winchester’s face. “If she’s being held by Crowley, why is he letting her be seen like that? Why would she just walk around those places and not run away?”

“Maybe they’ve got people following her, making sure she doesn’t make a break for it?”

“Or maybe she’s been working for Crowley all this time, and the call wasn’t anything other than a set-up to get us here.”

“No, Dean. She wouldn’t do that.”

“How’d she end up with him, Sam? Why’s she been gone seven years without a trace if she wasn’t working with him?”

“I don’t know, Dean. I just- I don’t think she’s working for him.” He paused. “There was something in her voice, like fear, when she called. She wasn’t lying.”

Dean sighed. “I don’t like it, but we’ll find her. If you think she’s still her, we’ll find her and we’ll save her.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, well, you better remember this next time I’ve got a crazy idea of my own.”

Sam managed a small smile and they got back down to the search. “Alright, so all these shopping centers and gas stations are in one area of the city. I’m going to narrow the search to cameras in that area.” After a few minutes, footage from a motel lobby appeared, showing Brenna checking into a room there.

“What’s the name of the place?” Dean asked, typing it into his computer as Sam read it off. Then he got a phone number and called the motel. When he got the manager, he told some story about being police and asked, “Has a woman named Brenna Mines checked into your motel? … What room? … No, that’s all, thanks very much.”

“Well?” Sam asked, impatient.

“Room twelve.”

“Let’s go.” They gathered all their stuff and headed out. They drove the Impala across town to the motel, parking in the back. Sam went to get out but Dean stopped him.

“You know this is probably a trap, right?” the older brother asked.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Alright. Just making sure you’re expecting it. Lead the way.”

They found room twelve and knocked first. When they got no answer, they knocked it in and ran inside. A man ran at them, and Dean buried the demon blade into his chest, the demon inside glowing orange as it died. When no more demons presented themselves, Sam and Dean checked the rest of the room and found Brenna tied up in the closet. “Hey, hey,” Sam said when she spooked at the sight of them. “It’s just me, it’s Sam.” He knelt next to her and untied the ropes around her wrists as Dean stood nearby, knife at the ready and feeling unsettled about how easy it was to get to the woman.

Then his brother removed the gag from her and she said, “Sam?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” He helped her stand. “What happened, Brenna?”

“Sam, it’s a trap, you--” Her words were cut off as her eyes flashed black. “You were incredibly stupid to come here,” the demon inside finished, then flicked her hand and sent him flying across the room into the wall. There was the crunch of bone and a shout of pain and then Dean was at Brenna’s throat with the demon knife. But then another demon, having snuck in while the men were occupied with her, grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him away, sending him tumbling over the bed. Diane the demon stalked over to Sam in Brenna’s body, saying, “Well, Sam Winchester. Crowley sends his regards. He’d really appreciate it if you’d stop trying to shut down Hell, so he told me to try my best to persuade you.”

She pulled him up by his shirt and punched him in the face, snapping his head to the left, then kneed him in the stomach. Inside, Brenna screamed, knowing how much pain her own hands were inflicting on him and hating it. Then there was a flash and a scream from the other demon, and looking over, she saw him falling dead from Dean’s blade. Diane let Sam drop back to the floor as Dean came for her. “Don’t kill her, Dean!” Sam shouted, making his brother pause in his attack. Diane smirked as she took the opportunity and ran out of the room, disappearing into the night with Brenna’s body.

\-----

After taking Sam to the hospital to get him patched up and get his fractured leg set, Dean returned him to the motel with their stuff and proceeded to call all the hunters he knew in the New York area. “What are you doing?” Sam asked after the fifth call.

“Bringing in the backup,” Dean answered.

“We don’t need backup.”

“Dude, look at yourself. You’re not hunting any time soon, and besides, you’re too close to this. If worst comes to worst and we have to kill Brenna, you’re not going to be able to do it.”

Sam jolted up in the bed, staring at his brother intently. “Don’t. You can’t kill her.”

“Hey, Sam, I understand. And I’ll do my best to make sure she gets out alive. But there’s always a chance she can’t be saved. Now you get some rest and I’ll get some people together to find this girl for you.”

Days passed. Dean had a team of four other hunters helping him out. They followed leads wherever they found them, but it was all dead ends. Day after day, Sam would look up at the door hopefully as it opened, but each time Dean shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry, Sammy,” he’d say. “Still no luck. No one’s seen her around since that night. On the plus side, we killed a couple more demons.” He smiled, trying to get his brother to copy him, but Sam just looked back down at the laptop, absently flipping through security camera footage again. “We’ll find her, don’t worry. Let’s just get you healed up and then you can come out with us.”

Finally, after nearly two weeks, they found evidence of a group of demons meeting in an abandoned warehouse, and a camera across the road had caught Brenna with them. All six hunters agreed it was most definitely a trap, but they came up with a plan that would catch the demons by surprise, if it worked. And so it was that Sam, using forearm crutches, approached the two demons on guard at the door by himself. They looked at him incredulously, exchanged glances, then headed for him. Just as they reached him, he ducked and bullets whistled right over him, hitting the demons in the chest. Then he pulled out the demon blade and stabbed each of them as they were immobilized by the devil’s traps on the bullets.

On the other side of the building, the same thing happened with the guards there, using Dean as the bait this time. Then, each brother led the way into the building. The six of them blazed through the building, killing demons and looking for Brenna. They found her in the last room they searched, surrounded by demons. “Brenna?” Sam asked as the six hunters and six demons faced off.

“Not at home,” Diane replied. “But I’ll make sure she pays attention while I use her to rip out your intestines.” And with those words the fighting began. It was chaos as hunters tried to hold down demons long enough to either exorcise them or get Dean to stab them with the demon blade, and the other demons would jump hunters to get them off the others. Sam headed straight for Brenna, hoping to be able to exorcise her before Dean could stab her. Flashes indicated that two demons had gone down, victims to Dean’s blade, and then black smoke spun around the room for a moment as another was exorcised. There was a scream of pain and Sam watched as a demon snapped the neck of one of the other hunters. But the younger Winchester quickly turned his attention back to Brenna and the demon inside her.

She was just standing there, at the end of the room, watching every move Sam made and waiting for him. In her mind, Diane was taunting Brenna, saying,  _ Look at that. Look what you did to him the last time you saw him. _ Sam barely dodged a demon’s fist, using a crutch to defend himself until Dean took it on. _ Broke his leg, poor thing. Don’t worry. He won’t remember that particular pain after what you’re going to do to him tonight. _ “I’ll give you props for one thing, Winchester,” Brenna heard herself say as Sam finally reached her. “You sure are persistent. But you’re just gonna get your ass kicked again.”

“You can try,” he said. “But I’m going to save Brenna if it’s the last thing I do.” A new flutter of hope filled Brenna’s heart, and she began to test the edges of Diane’s hold on her once again, looking for weaknesses. Previous searches in the past two weeks had yielded no results, but if Sam was willing to do anything to save her, then she had to find a way to help him do that. She tried to shut out the fact that her fists were connecting with Sam’s face and body as she felt around for cracks in Diane’s consciousness. Then there was a searing pain in her shoulder and she was jolted from her search to find that she’d been shot.

Diane turned to see Dean standing there, gun pointed square at her. She waved a hand, attempting to throw him across the room, but found she couldn’t. Brenna knew he’d used a devil’s trap bullet, and she took the momentary diversion to slip into the one crack she’d found and take control again. She fell to her knees, all the pain from the wounds of the past two weeks hitting her at once, including the burning pain of the gunshot wound in her shoulder. “Brenna?” Sam asked hopefully, pushing himself up from the floor.

“Quick, Sam,” she said, clutching at her shoulder. “Say the exorcism. While I’m still in control and she can’t dig the bullet out.”

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus,” Sam said. “Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica.” Black smoke began to pour out of Brenna as he finished. “Ergo, draco maledicte. Ecclesiam tuam securi tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos.” She collapsed, eyes closed. “Brenna!” He crawled over to her, ignoring the pain shooting through his leg. “Brenna, come on, wake up.” He checked her pulse, then lightly patted her cheek. With a gasp, her eyes flew open and she sat up again.

“She’s gone,” she said breathlessly. “The demon’s gone.”

“Yeah,” Sam answered, relieved.

His voice made her look at him. “Sam.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“Alright, alright,” Dean said. They looked over at him to see him standing next to the doorway, the other hunters gone. “We need to go. You can catch up on the ride back.”

\-----

At the Winchesters’ motel room, they removed the bullet from Brenna’s shoulder and patched up the wounds they’d all gotten from the fight. Later, they met up with the backup hunters and gave the hunter who’d died a proper funeral, burning his corpse on a pyre. Then the three of them got in the Impala and drove off, back to the bunker. There was silence for a while before Sam asked, “So, how did you end up with the King of Hell?”

Brenna sighed and leaned against the cool leather, preparing herself for the story. “After you saved me from the ghosts, a man appeared from nowhere and kidnapped me. The man turned out to be Crowley, King of the Crossroads at that time. He wanted me to work for him, said I was clever and useful. He told me he was a demon, and that he could kill anyone he wanted to. I didn’t believe him, of course, so he proved himself. We appeared in my house, and there was my family, sitting on the couch as two other demons watched them. With a snap of his fingers, he killed my father, saying he would stop if I worked for him. I couldn’t think straight, I could only beg him to bring my father back, so he killed my mother next. As she choked on her own blood, I realized what he was asking and said yes. Yes, I’d work for him. He spared my younger brothers.

“Seven years I worked for Crowley. I was one of the many human associates he had, since we were less likely to get in a killing rage if things went wrong. Usually I did the more mundane tasks: dropping off items, picking them up, talking with other humans. But when he started demanding I kill those who disobeyed, I balked. I’d always known I would have to get out eventually, but I wasn’t going to risk my brothers’ lives just to avoid making shady deals.”

“Wait, so your brothers are still out there?” Dean asked.

“Yes. They were moved to live with our aunt and uncle after our parents were killed. Crowley assured me when I threw a fit one day. But I don’t know if they’re still there. James, the oldest, he could be in college by now.”

“When we get back to the bunker, we’ll find them and make sure they’re safe,” Sam said.

“Thanks, Sam.” The rest of the ride was spent in silence. Brenna thought about the two men in the front and how much they’d done for her when they barely knew her. Mostly she thought of Sam, who’d seemed especially determined to save her, both from the ghosts and the demons. But then she thought of her brothers again, and a sense of apprehension washed over her, keeping her awake until her body collapsed from exhaustion.

Sam watched over Brenna, making sure she was comfortable once she fell asleep in the back seat. He thought of how willing she’d been when first learning about ghosts to accept the idea that supernatural beings existed in the world. Now she’d probably had more than enough to do with them for a lifetime. A sad smile graced his face as he studied her, thinking about the ways she’d changed over the course of seven years. He hoped, for her sake, that her brothers were fine when they found them. He didn’t know how she’d handle losing the last of her family.

After they arrived at the bunker, Sam showed Brenna to the room next to his, saying, “This is yours. If you leave, it’ll still be here for you whenever you need it.” She thanked him again, looking down as she smiled. The three of them settled into a routine of eating, searching for her brothers, and sleeping. Sometimes, in the small hours of the morning when Brenna couldn’t sleep for anxiety about her brothers, she would go to Sam’s room and sit next to him, listening to his stories about the life he’d led for seven years. Some of the things she knew about, of course, like the Apocalypse and the Leviathans, but some she didn’t know, like the time Sam had spent being soulless or Dean’s time in Purgatory. Her heart broke for him so many times, especially with his recent decision to leave behind Amelia.

Brenna tended to stare at him as he spoke, watching the way his hands and face moved as he spoke. He caught her once and smiled a bit, asking, “Why are you staring?”

“You’re so different,” she said. “From the way you used to be. I mean, the obvious things are your voice and your hair.” They shared a laugh. “But you used to be this young man who saved people, yet you were so unsure of yourself, unsure what exactly you were supposed to be doing. And you still save people, but now you’re certain. This is what you do, and this is what you’re always going to do.” He looked down at his hands, sadness in his eyes. “You wanna know how I know?”

“How?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

“You let Amelia go. If you were unsure about what you were supposed to do, you would have stayed with her. And I wouldn’t have blamed you. I don’t think anyone would have.” They were silent for a moment, Sam thinking that maybe Dean would have. “It’s good, this change,” she said. “It makes you more mature. Plus, I’ve always liked long hair on guys.” He looked up at her in surprise, then a cautious smile slowly spread across his face as he leaned closer to her. The kiss that followed was hesitant at first, but became more passionate as it progressed. When they broke apart for breath, a yawn escaped Brenna’s lips instead, and she laughed, embarrassed.

“Am I really that bad?” Sam asked jokingly.

“Not at all. You’re amazing. But I’m tired. I should get to bed.”

“Why don’t you stay here tonight?” He hurried to add, “Just to sleep, since you’re so tired. But maybe I can help ward off the anxiety while you sleep.”

“That’s a great idea,” she said with a smile. “Thanks, Sam.” She would have been lying if she said the feeling of Sam’s arms around her as she fell asleep didn’t make her feel warm and secure, and she allowed herself to dream of living with him for the rest of her life.

The next day brought reality crashing back down around her when Dean told Brenna he’d found her brothers. He showed her the coroner’s reports for both of them: necks snapped seemingly effortlessly, with no rope burns or finger marks. Crowley. She collapsed and Sam caught her up in his arms, holding her tight as sobs wracked her body. All her family, gone with a snap of the fingers. In her heart, she swore she’d never forgive Crowley for what he’d done. But for now there was nothing she could do except take the comfort Sam offered her, and she clinged to that comfort like a lifeline. For a week she walked around the bunker in a numb haze, running through all her favorite memories with her brothers. At night, she’d sleep in Sam’s bed, the circle of his arms the only thing to keep the memories and sadness away.

Then the idea entered her head that if she stayed with the Winchesters, she’d be the cause of their deaths, too. So that night, instead of climbing into bed with Sam, she walked out of the bunker with only the clothes on her back. It was storming, rain pouring down and thunder rumbling, but she walked steadily away from the bunker, determined to make their lives a little easier because of the absence of hers.

When Sam realized Brenna wasn’t coming to bed, he looked around the bunker for her and discovered the front door was open a crack. He ran out into the rain and saw her retreating form in the distance. Immediately he ran towards her, shouting out her name. She turned in confusion. “Sam?” she asked when he was near enough to hear her over the thunderstorm. “Why are you here?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” he answered, pushing his soaked hair out of his face.

“I’m leaving. I always end up being the reason those around me are killed. Just look what happened to you two while I was possessed by that demon, after I dragged you into my mess. So I’m leaving to save you and Dean.”

“Brenna, no offense, but that’s ridiculous. This life we live, it’s full of heartache and danger and sadness and death, but that doesn’t mean it’s your fault. You were literally not in control of your own body. The demon fractured my shin, not you. It wasn’t your decision for your family to die, that was Crowley’s. And in your position, you can’t be blamed for what happened. Your choices were crap, and either way people would have died.”

“I’m still leaving. My crap choices won’t affect you any more.”

“Don’t.” He had whispered it, and it was lost in the rain.

“What?”

“Please don’t leave.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m in love with you.” She stared at him in stunned silence, watching the raindrops drip from his nose as he tried to explain. “God, am I in love with you. From the moment you made that joke about Socrates seven years ago, I’ve been in love with you. I spent months looking for you after you disappeared, and I was determined not to lose you again after what happened in the motel room. I know you’ve lost people and I know how much that hurts, and I want to help you with that. This life, it’s broken, but there’s still beauty to be found in it. Beauty like you. And I can’t help but think that you and I were always meant to be.”

Slowly, a smile of disbelief and happiness spread across Brenna’s face as she found the truth in Sam’s words. Then she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him, laughing and crying as he wrapped himself around her in return. They shared a brief kiss before she said, “I appreciate the cliche factor of your admission of love in a storm, but shouldn’t we go inside?” He laughed and picked her up, sweeping her legs out from under her to carry her bridal style back to the bunker.

That night, Brenna Mines did indeed fall asleep in Sam Winchester’s arms, wearing one of his flannel shirts while her clothes were washed and dried. And when she woke in the morning, she didn’t dismiss the dreams of happiness that had filled her night.


End file.
